


Cold

by HiddenViolet



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Young Rogues, mick takes care of len and lisa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 16:57:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19155193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenViolet/pseuds/HiddenViolet
Summary: Len has a bit of trouble picking out cough medicine for Lisa. Thankfully Mick shows up to help.





	Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Yay a story that isn't part of my Reflections series. This fills out the Single Parent AU square on my bingo card.

Len stared at the number of cold medicine products in terror. He had no idea which one he was supposed to get. There were so many. Some of them were flavored, some of them were shapes, some had one type of medicine while others had another. He was in way over his head.

Len contemplated calling Siobhan Rory but then decided against it. He had already gotten so much from them he wasn’t sure he could ask for more. The food from their farm, the parenting advice from Siobhan, the protection from the older boys. Not to mention how often they were babysitting Lisa. Len just didn’t want to bother them with something so trivial. On the other hand…

“It seems like a lot of choices doesn’t it?” Len turned to where the voice had come from. He was a little surprised to see Mick at the store since they did all of their shopping on Saturdays and it was a Thursday. “Ma called me and said that she was looking after a sick Lisa until you got off from work. Said you might need a bit of help picking out the medicine.”

“You don’t need to do that.” Len protested. Already upset at his failings at raising his “daughter” and not wanting to take advantage of his friend.

“Come on Len, you know I don’t mind. Besides, after you gave me those techniques on managing my pyromania, it’s the least I can do. You should get her this kind. It works best for colds like these and it is good for little kids. The taste isn’t too bad either so you shouldn’t have a lot of trouble getting her to take it.” Len took the medicine and examined it. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Mick’s judgment (and most likely his mother’s judgment) he was just overprotective of Lisa. He really couldn’t help himself.

“Thanks. Was that all your Mother sent you along for?” Mick gave him a grin.

“Of course not. She also wanted me to invite that nice young single neighbor boy with the lovely daughter over for dinner. She just can’t wait for him to meet all of her single children.” Len stared at him for a moment his mind working before he got it.

“Oh! You mean me and Lisa. Of course, we will come to dinner. I would never turn down a meal from your family.” Mick gave him a kind smile. In the past 3 years, Len had relinquished his never-ending seriousness but he still had a long way to go. It took a monumental effort just to get him to smile.

“It’s good that you say that because otherwise Ma would track you down and drag you to dinner and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” Len gave a shake of his head and they went to check out. Mick didn’t let the lack of reaction bother him. Eventually, he would get his friend to loosen up. Besides, he had already come a long way from the scared kid he had been three years ago.

_Len had never just sat down and cried but he found himself wanting to do it now. It was so hard doing all this stuff. Looking after Lisa with her daycare and little kid food. Juggling the bills and his sister. Beyond that, it was exhausting acting like her father and like he was in his 20s. He was so not ready for any of this but life rarely gave him a choice._

_A few rogue tears slipped out of his eyes and he closed them in desperation. He really couldn’t do this. He couldn’t go back though. Not after this stunt and he didn’t want his sister anywhere near that monster. He was still recovering from that last beating and he would be damned if he allowed that to happen to his sister. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the knock on the door. He wiped away the tears and went to see who it was._

_It turned out to be a plump middle-aged woman holding a pie. It was a scene straight out of a movie and it honestly had him confused._

_“Hi! I’m Siobhan Rory. I’m your nearest neighbor.” Her voice had a pleasant Irish lilt to it. “I wanted to welcome you to the area with a pie. If there is anything I can do for you then you can just ask me.” Len knew people. He knew when people were sincere and when they were lying to him. And at that moment he knew that she was sincere and in the face of her true motherly concern he did the only thing he could. He burst into tears._

After carefully feeding her his cover story about a young daughter and a dead mother and being all on his own, she had declared it a lie. Len had been about to argue that it was true when Siobhan had said that his reasons were his own and she could tell that they were good ones. That he didn’t have to tell her the entire story.

From then on the Rory family had been his go-to people. If he ever needed anything then he was able to go to them. That turned out to be a good thing because the house that he had bought was falling apart. Siobhan and volunteered her 6 strapping sons for the job of helping him refurb it and in return, he had put his mechanical mind to use. He had completely rebuilt their tractor engine saving them the cost of having it done by a mechanic or replacing the whole tractor.

Len had traded favors and labor for all sorts of things. That was a different thought. This was just the Rory’s helping him out.

“Ah don’t sweat it, Len. You know that Ma is going to help you whether you like it or not. You might as well just get used to it. Now let’s go, it’s almost time for dinner and we don’t want to be late.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my work leave a comment or kudos. If you want me to write something leave a comment. If you're slightly concerned at the fact that I am putting out two stories a day, leave a comment. You get my drift.


End file.
